Social Wasps. 



393 



Social Wasps. 



There are a large number of wasps of various kinds that inliabit these islands, 

 but most of them are known only to the few entomologists who make a special 

 study of the order ^ of Insects to which all the wasps belong. The many that are 

 unknown to the general public are solitary wasps — wasps of which the females 

 laboriously construct a nest of some sort which is provisioned with food, an egg 

 laid upon it, and the nest closed up. The social wasps form communities, often 

 consisting of many thousands of individuals, who not only provide a habitation 

 for their progeny, but watch over and nurse these from the moment they escape 

 from the egg until they reach the winged stage, preparing their food for them, and 

 actually putting it to their mouths. 



It is generally thought that the common wasp is a well-known Insect, but 

 this is not the case. There are, in fact, few Insects that are so little known — even 

 by those who organize clubs for their 

 destruction and put a price upon the head 

 of every queen-wasp. The wasp as it 

 presents itself to the imagination of these 

 well-meaning people, and the wasp as 

 known to those who have studied its life- 

 history and habits, are two entirely 

 different creatures. Like all prejudices of 

 long standing that have come to us from 

 the dark ages and have left tlieir mark 

 upon our language, this false estimate of 

 the wasp is dethroned with difficulty. 

 Except for one short period in its hfe, when 

 the wasp undoubtedly does axt in a wav 

 that arouses the murderous resentment of 

 greedy man — the wasp has at least equal 

 claims with the bee and the ant to be 

 included in the list of Nature's moral 

 exemplars. But that one lapse not merelv wijx's out its record of good deeds, it 

 prevents people seeing the possibility of its ever having had a reputable' ])ast. Let 

 us state the facts, and leave judgment to the fair-minded reader. 



A queen-wasp of one of the common sorts,- for whose dead body our local 

 wasp club has offered a reward, creeps out in spring from the dark, sheltered corner 

 where she has been sleeping through the cold days of winter. She had only thrown 

 off her chrysalis wraps in the autumn, and after a day or two of rest in the nest, 

 to allow her new black and yellow corselet and her limbs to become hrm, she set 

 out for her virgin flight. The activities of the nest were over for the season. The 

 workers who had spent their winged existence in the unresting search for food 

 for the helpless grubs in the combs, had now nothing to do. All the grubs had 

 spun silk covers over their cells, and had turned to chrysalids. The old queen — 

 the mother of the entire community — was dead of old age, and no eggs had been 



J'liolo hy] [/■:. Step, F.L.S. 



The Old L.-\dy Moth. 



The resomblancc of tlic closed brown wings to a lady's flounced 

 and fringed mantle of ancient fashion has suggested the name 

 in all probability. In spite of its large size, its colouring 

 makes it very inconspicuous, and in consequence it is not very 

 well kiiinvn. Natural size. 



' Hymcnoptcra. 



- \'espa vulgaris, or \'. germanica. 



